Heavy Iron

Why do most guys buy these trainer jets when they are learning to fly turbines? I see Boomerangs and Turbinators.... and similar machines. Not as attractive compared to the scale jets. Is this really a necessary step in order to learn to fly jets? If a person has years of experience with heavily loaded airplanes I would think they could just jump in and fly a turbine with reasonable success. They would have to be conscious of the throttle lag, but all the aspects of flying should be pretty routine.

Todd

ravill

My Feedback: (11)

Thank you for that unsolicited first post editorial!!

Raf

seanreit

My Feedback: (60)

Sounds like Timothy

Shok

My Feedback: (28)

I would say then that you should go by a BVM F-4 and give it a go.


Please report back with video.

seanreit

My Feedback: (60)

Ronnie, THE HUN, THE HUN!!!

AndyAndrews

in a word....yes.

mr_matt

My Feedback: (10)

My first turbine flight was with a BVM Bandit. I don't see why you have to start with such low end boomerangs and such.

swansons

My Feedback: (3)

Todd,
Most of the guys you refer to also have many hours flying heavy wing loaded airplanes. Just about all of them started with a "Trainer Jet".
It is not as easy as it looks to jump from prop planes to turbines. Give yourself a break and start with something a little slower and easier to land than a scale turbine. There is also the matter of the AMA Turbine waiver requirement before you just "jump into" turbine flight.

John S.

Andrew Bird

My first turbine flight was with a flash. I went to my grass strip in the UK and just flew it (I didn't need a waiver there). I've been flying for about 10 years and had no problems at all.
I wanted to fly a jet because of the new challenge, way it looked, for precision aerobatics and the higher speed compared to the large imac/3d type models I was flying, so I didn't see the point in getting something I would only have to sell when I wanted a proper jet.

icepilot

I started my jet flying with an F-16, and although there were a few hard landings and
some undercarriage repairs, it wasn't difficult and I didn't feel the need for a trainer
as the plane flew in a very controlled and nice way. It helps A LOT having great jet
friends standing beside you talking you through the first 8-10 flights until you get the
hang of it!

Good luck!!

Tor

mr_matt

My Feedback: (10)

When I started there were no turbine trainers other than a Bandit.. that was THE turbine trainer!! Of course I had flown DF for years which helps.

Kevin_W

My Feedback: (1)

[old fart voice]Well when I started flying turbines way back in 1996 there were no jets kitted for turbine power.[/old fart voice]

My first turbine flight was on my Interceptor which I converted to turbine power myself.
I chose the Interceptor because I had been flying a ducted fan version for some time so I knew how it was going to fly and the only difference would be the powerplant.
For several months before the turbine was ready I used the servo slow function in my 10SX to slow down the throttle response to about 10 seconds on the ducted fan. That did a good job of getting me used to throttle lag.

The first time you experience the sound and acceleration of a turbine can be intimidating to even the best pilot. It is a good idea to stack the cards as much in your favor as you can for the first flights.

Turbine trainer necessary?
No, but it's a good friggin idea!

Eddie P

My Feedback: (4)

90 percent of the guys could easily spend big bucks right away and get by with flying a scale jet for the first turbine given the typically high experience levels of turbine flyers. The issue is how much repairs do you want to make on your "dream machine" - hard landings, scuffed wings, you name the typical new turbine issue. Soon the new dream machine is heavy, scuffed and stress cracked and brittle from spot repairs.

Sport jets are great places to start but I went with a straight winged Reaction 54 because it was relatively cheap to set up and it's an awesome jet to fly when my home field is pushing 8500 feet density altitude in the summer. The heavy iron can't even operate on those days but my "trainer" is ready to fly any given day, no hangar queen excuses. It was also dead easy to fly from the beginning yet it's got a lot of fun factor in it.

In real life, most pilots don't hold easy flying qualities against a jet. For example, the B-737 is probably the easiest airplane to fly in any class for a transport (Just my opinion speaking but I've got a lot of time in it and the competition). I don't think you'll see guys talking smack about it because it doesn't try to get your life or license taken away from you. My contemporaries that flew the F-18 say the same thing. Why get shot down if you can fly a jet that works for you and against the adversary at the same time? A turbine "Trainer" is sort of the same idea. Let a good sport model, or "trainer" even, make the transition into jets totally enjoyable. Get tons of stick time in right away, leave the gear door rigging and broken flex plates for later on when you can take your sport jet out for a spin when the shop time gets boring making the dream machine pretty

FalconWings

My Feedback: (57)

Dude you have the right attitude. Go for the Century Jet F-104. Just make sure you build it very heavy so it doesn't fly that fast.

ravill

My Feedback: (11)

Please, PLEASE lets have a video of that.

One thing for safety though, Todd, about 3 seconds before touchdown, would you please shut down the turbine so that there is minimal risk of fire. That should give you about, say,....a 27 second flight!

I just got my popcorn! [sm=tongue_smile.gif]

Raf

Terry Holston

My Feedback: (1)

I agree with most of what Kevin said, except, the TGA INterceptor ain't no Friggin Trainer!!!! LOL. I bet the only reason he was sucessfull is what he said, he had been flying one for years on DF. YMMV..........

Kevin_W

My Feedback: (1)

Terry,
I didn't mean to accuse it of being a trainer.
It was just the best choice for me at the time since there were no turbine kits at all (trainers or otherwise).

It sure was cool to see a 18+lb model do 190mph+ on 8-1/2 lbs of thrust though.

smokin-gun

My Feedback: (18)

join the party w/timmy , all you need are a big set and a big wallet
how much you want to spend and how much can you afford to risk.

these are the realities!!!!!!

Terry Holston

My Feedback: (1)

Yeah, Kevin, I remember seeing you fly one at Superman several eons ago. You had the centerline drop tank . After you dropped it, Steve (From TGA) and I were laughing when you were passing that there Bandit, on 8.5 lbs of thrust, too. Very funny. LOL

Kevin_W

My Feedback: (1)

Yeah, Ray Gonzales and BV noticed that too.
I don't think they were laughing though.

Terry Holston

My Feedback: (1)

Now that is funny...................................

flyinfool1

My Feedback: (2)

Since you are in Milwaukee WI, there are now 4 turbine pilots flying at the RAMS field on 70th & Oakwood RD.
I fly my turbine from skis so come on out any time.

tp777fo

My Feedback: (28)

It's your skills, not the airplane..this was my first turbine...I flew it 100's of flights before I sold it.

seanreit

My Feedback: (60)

You should have seen Tom's landings a couple months ago! They were better with the 104!

kevinthoele

My Feedback: (1)

Kevin W makes a great point. Take one of your scale prop jobs and use servo slow to say 7 seconds from idle to full power and go fly and get used to it. Hopefully you have a 10X radio as it makes that easy. I also hope your scale ship has a few scale options. Speed brakes, flaps, retracts. wheel brakes and that you can touch all the functions and set without looking at the transmitter also duel rates and flight modes.

Give the servos slow option a try and let us know how it goes. If all above is a piece of cake for you......Go build and fly a turbine.